Arthur, Timelord of Camelot
by CelebrateTheIrony17
Summary: As the title suggests, this is an AU in which Arthur is a timelord. Arthur must leave his comfortable life playing human in modern times for medieval era Britain to save Albion from it's terrible fate... A little self inserty, I will warn you now.
1. Chapter 1

I smiled.

Arthur was in his element again. Centre of attention, very animated whilst telling some funny story to his crowd of admirers. They all broke out into loud unrestrained laughter after the apparent punch line, leaving Arthur beaming at the anecdotes success. He glanced over at me, sitting a little way away on a bar stool and grinned even brighter. I responded with something equal to his expression and he started making his way towards me.

'But what will your disciples do if you've come over to amuse me?' I winked at him.

'They have to learn how to make their own way in the world. I can't delight them with my tales forever; they'll have to make their own amusement from now on.'

A quick glance over to the group showed me this wasn't something they found agreeable. Several members of the group were looking longingly over to where Arthur and I were now sat.

'I don't think they'll take to that kindly, Arthur. You make quite the impression on people. Charming bastard that you are. You could run for Prime Minister and get elected on charisma alone.'

'Ah yes, and someday I might try that, but for now, I'm content teaching. Moulding young minds into the sharp, knowledge filled organs that they one day strive to be.'

Arthur had been teaching physics at the local comprehensive school for four years, and had loved every minute of it.

'And what an excellent job you do at getting them to that point. Anyway, we should go, it's getting late and I have to be up early at the studio. I'm doing piano tracks tomorrow, I do believe.'

'Okay, I'll just pay up and we can get out of here then.'

Arthur paid the bill, and as we left a chorus of 'Bye Arthurs' followed us. Arthur really did know how to charm the masses.


	2. Chapter 2

'No. I will not get up. I refuse.'

Arthur's voice was muffled; his head face down on his pillow. I shook him with weak arms. I didn't want to be up either, but six o'clock was week day waking time in our household, and I damn sure wasn't going to be the only one to abide to that rule.

'Arthur, get your lazy arse out of this bed. You have places to go, teenagers to teach, paperwork to do, and all other teachery stuff.'

He responded by mumbling something incoherent into the pillow again. This was an almost daily routine. For someone who had such a passion for their job, Arthur was always very reluctant to get up in the mornings to do it. As usual, my next scripted move was to get whatever book I had been reading from the floor next to my side of the bed and repeatedly hit him on the back of the head with it.

'Ah! Stop! Fine, I'm up. I'm up!'

'Good. I made tea too. Drink up, darling; we've got busy days ahead of us.' I grinned at him and he responded with a grimace. I cackled as I left the room.

About ten minutes after I had woken Arthur, he came down dressed and joined me in the kitchen.

'Thursday. I hate Thursdays. Two free periods on Thursdays. _Two_ _whole hours_ of doing nothing but admin in the staff room. I went into teaching to teach, not to fill out endless paper work. It's so pointless too. One child mildly electrocutes themself while doing an experiment on electric currents and its eight pages of paper work for me. It was just a tiny burn anyway. You could barely even see it. The paramedics said he was just a little shaken up. It's just a big fuss out of nothing.'

I smirked at his disgruntled expression. The paperwork was something he'd always had an issue with as a teacher. He was very hands on in his approach to all things, spontaneous, not a planner. Certainly not one to think of consequences. The story behind the scar on his left arse cheek could tell you that.

I met him in a small bar near Euston station. I was performing there, a small acoustic gig. Session work may pay the bills, but playing my own songs was much more satisfying. He approached me after I'd finished, offered me a drink, and the rest, as they say, is history. We moved in together into a small central London flat, and had been living that way since.

What he was doing before he met me was a mystery. He had come with me back to the midlands on more than one occasion, had met my parents (they loved him, as was to be expected). His…. His I had not met. He never brought up talk of his past. If I tried to bring it up, it was always brief, a conversation left with unanswered questions. His accent gave him away as being a southerner, but aside from that, any idea of his past was a mystery. I had considered him being an orphan, an ex- con, former agent of MI5, superhero living with a secret identity, a criminal mastermind. Nothing fit. At some point I reached the conclusion that it didn't matter. He loved me, I loved him, we were very happy. But there was always the niggling sense of something more about him, something he wouldn't tell me.

But it didn't matter. It was something I thought of time to time, but not something I obsessed over.

'What time will you be home tonight?'

'Erm, about six? We're aiming to complete four tracks today, and if Madame Dipshit arses around as much as she has been doing, that could take a while. I can't believe I have to work with that awful woman. Musician my arse. Professional karaoke singer is what she is. And a fucking unbearable one at that. Did you know she's requested a pink fur trim to be put on everything in the studio? _Everything._'

'Ha! I'm sure it looks wonderful. You were always complaining that it was too grey in there. Anyway, I have minds to mould. Must be going.'

He kissed me lightly on the check, and with one last glimpse of his trademark blinding smile, he left.


	3. Chapter 3

'Freedom! Halle-fucking-lujah!'

I was out of the studio at last. After seven hours working with the bloody awful, and ridiculously named Star Bloom (Yes. She _chose _that as a stage name), I was free. Freedom today meant going to meet Arthur at the Rose and Crown, our local, as it were.

'Hello darling, how are you this fine evening?' When I got to our usual booth, he greeted me with a kiss on the cheek, and I sat down, my usual in on the table in front of me (tea. My usual is tea, and for that, I refuse to be judged).

'I'm very well, every second more I spend with her, is a second less I'll have to in the future. How was your day?'

'Excellent. I was put on cover duty during my free periods.' Yes, he was genuinely pleased at this. The only teacher I've ever met to be glad of teaching a group of teenagers who have reason to believe that they've been given rights to mess around for an hour. Still, he really was an excellent teacher, so maybe that wasn't an issue for him.

'Another?' He'd finished his pint and was holding up the empty glass.

'Yeah, go on then.'

Arthur left to go up to the bar; receiving pleased greeting by many of the pubs regular patrons. I smiled to myself and shook my head. Such a charming bastard.

At that moment, I was approached by a thickset man with a shaven head and an array of hideous tattoos covering his arms and neck.

'Hello love, that your boyfriend over there? He's a popular feller ain't he?'

I gave the man an unwelcomingly questioning look.

'Yep. And we're very happy together. What of it?'

'Well, he's a bit of a pretty boy. Surely a pretty woman like you would want something a little rougher round the edges, if you know what I mean?' He winked and gestured to himself, slipping down on to Arthur's seat opposite me.

'Look mate, I don't know what you expect to gain from harassing me, but I can promise you, it certainly isn't going to be me as your next lay. Now, if you would kindly fuck off, I won't have to punch you in the nads so hard that only dogs will be able to ear you speak for months. And look, my pretty boy boyfriend is coming back now, and you're in his seat.'

Arthur came back then, pint in hand and a curious look on his face.

'Feisty little girlfriend you've got there, pretty little thing as well. Wouldn't mind a bit of that when you've finished with it.' He looked down at me then, licking his lips. I responded involuntarily with and incredibly disgusted look. Arthur, who still hadn't reclaimed his seat, had lost the curious look and was starting to look angry.

'Get away from her now, and get the hell out of my seat. I don't know who you are, but I will not have my girlfriend spoken to or about like that. She is not a piece of meat for you to ogle at, and if you so much as think of laying your hands on her, I will break your arms off.'

I had to work very hard to resist the urge to grin triumphantly at the man. Ha, I thought, nobody messes with my boyfriend's girlfriend. No one.

What happened after that always plays itself in slow motion in my memory. The man, angry at having been called out by Arthur grabbed his beer bottle in hand, jumped up out of his seat and hit Arthur around the head with it with such force as I had never seen before or since. Arthurs head snapped to one side and he promptly collapsed onto the floor. The pub went completely silent, a group of four of Arthur's mates who were stood in relatively close proximity to the occurring's jumped on the man who had glassed him and pinned him to the ground. The whole thing only happed within a couple of seconds, but I stared with a horrified look on my face throughout.

It was only when I saw the blood pouring out from under Arthurs head that I snapped back into action.

'Bill! Clean tea towels, now! Dave, call for an ambulance and the police, keep sitting on that bastard until they come for him, don't let him move an inch, and make sure to keep me away from him, because I swear to god and all that's holy, I will skin the twat alive if I'm given the chance.'

I knelt down beside Arthur and with the tea towels which Bill, the landlord, had bought over, I pushed the bundle of cloth hard against the back of his head. He was still breathing, good. After I had employed someone else to make sure there was constant pressure on the head wound, I put my head on his chest to check his heartbeat. Strong. Very strong. I hadn't expected to be able to get much from just putting my ear close to his cheat, but there is was, a loud, clear heartbeat. Unusual. My medical knowledge wasn't extensive, just what I'd learnt from a course in my old Air Cadet days, but I knew it should have been more muffled than that. I moved my ear to the right side of his chest. My head shot up instantly. Shit. That can't be right. It was as strong, if not more so on the right as it was on the left. Two hearts. _Two hearts. _No. I had to be wrong. I did my checks again. Same result. I decided to put my findings in the back of my mind. This was not the time to deal with this. Arthur would have to be conscious for me to ask him about it, and at the current time, he was not. The gaping hole in the back of his head was the real issue here, there would be time for other things later.


	4. Chapter 4

Beep. Beep. Beep.

The perfect constant sound of the heart monitor was claiming my attention while I waited beside Arthur's bedside for him to wake up. The ambulance had come shortly after my discovery and in their urgency to get him to A and E, they had not realised what I had. Two hearts. I still couldn't get my head round it. As it should be, the doctors had paid more attention to Arthur's head wound than anything else. As soon as it was deemed that he had a pulse, his head had been the main focus. Fortunately, scans had assured us that he was fine, and would make a full recovery. It was just a waiting game now to see when he would wake. I had been by his side for the five hours that we had been at the hospital.

'Hi'

It had been silent in the room apart from the heart monitor for so long that Arthur's sudden voice made me jump in my seat.

'Where are we? Why does my head hurt? Am I wearing…. Am I wearing a _nightdress_?'

'What? No. It's a hospital gown, you got glassed, fell unconscious, bleed _a lot_, and now you're in hospital. You're fine by the way, no permanent damage.'

'Oh. Right, I kind of remember now you've said. I was defending your honour I believe, and doing an excellent job until I got hit round the head with a beer bottle.'

'Yes you were, my hero, how will I ever repay you!' He smirked at my faux Southern belle accent.

'No need for repayment ma'am, to help a young maiden in distress is all the thanks I need.' He responded in his own exaggerated American accent, and I giggled at the sheer awfulness of it.

'Oh! Before I forget to tell you, I've rang the school, told them of your heroics and that you won't be in for a few days, I believe they're already organising to get you an assortment of get well soon gifts. Cards and teddy bears galore.'

'Ooh! Gifts, I like gifts. Maybe being glassed wasn't such a terrible thing after all.'

'Yeah… Anyway, they said you could be discharged as soon as you woke up, and you're clearly you are now awake, so I think we should skedaddle, because I am starving. We should get a Chinese on the way back I think, because you're being such a brave little soldier about your head, and I can't be arsed to cook anything.'

'Sounds like a plan. I approve. Anything to get me out of this arseless gown. Actually, it's quite airy. I quite like it…'


	5. Chapter 5

'Mmmmmmmm, delicious. The finest Chow Mein in all the land, I decree it to be so! How's your sweet and sour?'

'What? Sorry, I wasn't listening.' I had been wrapped up in my own thoughts. After we had left the hospital, and my relief at Arthur being okay had worn off, I kept thinking back to the two hearts, trying to justify a reason for it in my mind. Does he know about it? He had to know about it. In doctor's appointments, general curiosity, he must have realised at some point. In twenty five years of existence, he must have at some point thought, 'Hmm, two hearts, intriguing, I should see someone about this, find out why'. But no, nothing. I didn't mention it at the hospital to any of the staff. I'm not sure why, but something about the whole situation made me feel like it should be kept a secret. Like I had stumbled on to some classified information and it was now my duty to keep it to myself.

'The food. Is it any good?'

'Oh, right, yes, delicious, Mr Wan really knows his way around a kitchen.'

'Are you alright, you seem… distracted.' Of course I was distracted. He had two hearts.

'No, I'm fine. Just a little tired. It's been a late and rather unexpected night. I'll be alright in the morning.'

'Okay, just… are you sure? Because you look like you want to say something, but you haven't. But if you're just tired….'

This was it. He had given me an opportunity to ask him, to ask what I had wanted to find out all night. He wouldn't let me hide behind excuses of just being a little tired. I was going to ask him.

'Well. There was something I want to know, to ask you about. Erm, I don't know how to say this, well, erm, butyouhavetwohearts!' The last part of the sentence came out in a rush, as if I wanted to let it escape me before I chickened out, which of course I did.

Arthur dropped the forkful of food which had only gotten halfway to his mouth and it hit the plate, making a clattering sound.

He sat in silence for a couple of minutes. Mouth open, eyes wide, flickering between me and the space directly in front of him.

'Arthur? Arthur. Use your words!'

'But… But how do you know? How did you find out? Does anyone else know, did you tell them?'

'No, I'm the only one. When you were knocked out, I checked your heart rate and it was unnaturally strong, so I made further investigations, and realised that you have two hearts. How do _you _know? And why? How come you didn't tell me?'

'I- I, Look. There are some things that I have been keeping from you. I was going to tell you eventually, but I didn't want to rush it, you know? I mean, at what point in a relationship is a person supposed to mention these… things.'

'Arthur. What things? What have to been keeping from me _for four years?'_

'Well. I don't know how to put this. I'm… I'm not human.'

'What. WHAT? Not Human? How can you not be human? Are you having me on? This is a joke. Of course it's a joke. No one of your best though, Arthur.'

Arthurs face had stayed deadpan throughout my response to his confession. He was starting to worry me.

'I'm not human. I'm something called a Time lord. From the planet Galifrey, long gone now, but that was my home. I can travel through time in my, well, I guess it's a space ship. The T.A.R.D.I.S, Time and Relative Dimension in Space. Looks like an old police phone box on the outside, chameleon circuit on it broke, never got around to fixing it… Anyway, it travels through time, that's all you need to know. I can travel through time, and I'm not human.'

'But… But… No. You're bloody human! Look at you, blonde hair, human eyes, human head, human… teeth! Legs and stuff. Bloody human!'

'Well, Humans came after Time Lords; technically you all look Time Lord. But, yes, not the point. I have two hearts, you were right, I'm also very old. Much older than twenty five. And I don't die like humans do, I can regenerate, but that isn't important right now.'

'You _regenerate! _What the bloody hell does that mean?! Why are you saying all this stuff? _Time Lord. _Not even a thing. I… have to go for a walk.'

'Wait, come on. Please. I'm telling you the truth. I didn't tell you because I wanted to settle down. I've travelled alone for centuries, and then you, I saw you that night and I realised I didn't want to be alone anymore. I played human and I wasn't, but I love you! I really do, with everything I have. This is all real. Don't go… please.' A pleading look had entered his eyes. Deep sadness, as if it had been inside him for a long time, and he was only now letting his suffering come to the visible surface. I couldn't look at him.

'I just… This is a lot to digest okay. I'm going to go for a walk. I'll be back, alright? I just need to think this out. I'll come back.'

I left then without looking at him again. I could hear his dejected collapse onto the sofa and left, closing the door silently behind me. A Time lord. I couldn't even begin to digest that information. What the hell was Galifrey anyway? This was going to take a while to even begin to comprehend.


	6. Chapter 6

'Change? Any change?' I smiled at the man as I gave him what little change I had in my pocket. Wasn't much, a few silvers, about a pound in total but it would be enough for a drink maybe.

'Thank you miss.' I smiled again at him and continued to walk past.

I had been out walking for about two hours. It was dark, about one in the morning, but London being how it was, there were still plenty of people milling about. A _time lord._ Fuck. What did any of it mean. I had lived with him for three years. Three bloody years and he only mentions it now? Cunt. But such a lovely cunt. Smart, exciting, sweet, kind, fun, beautiful, funny. Ever after material. But not human apparently. There is always something. What did it even mean anyway? What sort of repercussions were to come from this? Could we reproduce together still? Was it even legal? Stupid question. I'm sure no law would have even considered such a possibility as a human-alien marriage. That's what he was though, really. An alien. Men, there's always bloody something isn't there. I knew Arthur was too damn perfect.

I'm sure by that point I had resolved to stay with him still, but there were so many questions, things to consider. I wasn't going to leave him. Did this really have to change that much? No. No, it was not that big of a deal. How much did species really matter? He was still a man in _that _sense of the word. I knew that very well. No, it didn't matter. And time travel, that sounded intriguing. No, this wasn't a bad thing. But I wasn't quite ready to see him again yet. Just a few more hours out in the fresh air, really clear my head. I'd walked over to a nearby park. Well, I say park. Small grassy area was a better description; this was central London after all. I sat on a bench, overcome with exhaustion all of a sudden. I lay my head down, and about ten minutes later, after staring at the light polluted starless London sky, fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.


	7. Chapter 7

I closed the front door softly behind me.

'Oh thank god, you're back!'

Arthur pulled me into a tight embrace. I wrapped my arms around him and lay my head on his shoulder. We stood like that for a couple of minutes in silence.

'Where were you all night? No one had seen you, I called Sarah, Louise, Jonah, Mike, Ben, all your friends, I even called your mother for Christ sakes! Where did you go all night?' He didn't break from the embrace to say this, rather cried it loudly in my ear. Fearing another outburst of worry mixed relief from him, I made the move out from his arms.

'I was just walking around for a while; fell asleep on a park bench. I'm sorry I didn't call or anything, I didn't mean to make you worry.'

'You're so cold, come on, I'll get you a blanket and make you some tea. And you might want to give your mother a call. I'll bring you the phone.'

'Arthur. Stop for a second. It's fine.'

'What? What do you mean it's fine? You're freezing; I'm going to make tea. You like tea, and a blanket. I'll go get one.'

'No, I mean it's fine. You being a… Time Lord. It's fine. I love you, and this doesn't have to change anything. I thought a lot about it last night, and I'm fine with it.'

Arthurs face lit up. He threw down the mug and tea bag that he had been holding and lifted me up off my feet.

'Really? You don't mind? I love you, I really, really do. God, you have no idea how happy this makes me.'

'You know, I have a vague idea. If you could maybe put me down, breathing is a little difficult when you're crushing my lungs.'

He hastily put me down and gave me a sheepish grin.

'Sorry, sorry. God, I'm so happy.' At that moment the phone began to make its loud, shrill ring.

Arthurs face changed then to a look of nervous recognition.

'Ah. There is a very good chance that is for you. You know how I was worried about you last night and rang a few people to find out where you were? Well I may have conveyed my worry to them, and now a lot of people think you've gone missing. You might want to tell them that you're fine.'

I gave him a pained look and walked over to the phone. I picked up the receiver and prepped myself for the draining conversation I'm sure was to come.

'Hi mom, yes I'm fine, I know I wasn't home last night, he just gets worried is all. No, mother, I am fine. No I was not _replenishing my drug stash. _Christ woman, I just went for a walk! London does not make everyone an addict! I _know _it was late. Oh my god! You do not need to come down here to make sure that I'm fine. Yes I'm eating! Yes I still have a job….'

I threw Arthur a look of pure daggers. This was going to be a long night, and it was his entire fault.


	8. Chapter 8

'What colour is it?'

'Blue. Does it even matter? It travels through time. Surely you have more questions for that?'

'Nope. What can one ask about time travel? I still don't believe you. It's impossible. Sure you have two hearts, but time travel? Nope. I don't believe you. I'm only coming to see the 'Turdis' because it seemed important to you. I'm expecting a beloved car or something. Or a caravan.'

'Turdis? Turdis? T.A.R.D.I.S. Time and Relative Dimension in Space. _T.A.R.D.I.S_. And it really does travel in time. And throughout all of space.'

'Okay, okay, it's a time travelling spaceship. I accept it' I said disinterestedly, my attention now focused on a loose bit of thread in my jumper.

After I'd finally proved to my mother and all my friends that I was alive and well, Arthur started excitedly telling me about the 'Tardis' of his. I could accept that he was an alien, that I had mostly got my head around, difficult as it was. I had always believed that there was more intelligent life in the universe than there was to be found on Earth. Christ knows, after watching Big Brother, I had no choice but to believe, hope to god, that it was true. That he didn't age like humans, I could believe, the regenerations I was a little sceptical about, but the science behind it seemed believable enough. What I understood of it at least. But a time travelling space ship? Something about it I couldn't accept. Time was linear, the past gone never to be reclaimed, and the future a gift not yet reached. It was impossible. Time wasn't something physical, something you could see, touch, feel, and mess with. No. It wasn't possible. But I'd agreed to go along with it, travel with him to the small, non-spectacular storage lot on the outskirts of London.

'Here. This is mine.'

We stopped in front of what appeared to be a garage, hundreds of similar buildings lining the walkways we took to get to this particular one.

'This. This is where you keep your space ship? A garage outside on London. A _garage. _It can't be very big.'

He gave me a sly, secret smile and produced a key from his pocket. He lifted up the garage door to reveal a small blue box, not more than four feet squared.

'That. That… Box is a _spaceship?_ A… Does that… Does that say _police call box?_ An old police call box is your spaceship?'

The coy little smile had not left his face. In fact, if anything it was more pronounced.

'Want to see inside?' He put a key inside and partially opened the door.

'Sure, but I think we'll have to take it in turns. Doesn't look like it'll fit us both, somehow.'

'Oh how wrong you are…'

I looked at him quizzically and opened the door fully. What. _What. _I backed out slowly and ran round to the back of the box. Still small, still just a… box. This couldn't be right. I put my hand on the surface of the outside, wood. Solid. I ran back around to the front and stepped inside again. I did my circling the box routine a couple more times before stopping in front of Arthur, who had been silently watching me the whole time.

'Bigger. Bigger on the inside. Comprehend me not. Sense it not make. How? Just… How.'

I looked over to Arthur to see him trying desperately to compress a huge smile at my confusion.

'Thought that might surprise you. Deceptive isn't it?'

'Yes. It's the size of a medium sized house floor plan inside. But it looks like a telephone box. How.'

'It's actually much bigger than that; there are bedrooms, a library and a swimming pool somewhere too… But yes, it's a lot bigger than it looks.'

'Okay. So this is seeming more like a spaceship now.'

'I'm glad you think so.' He stepped inside and I followed him in, closing the door behind me.

'So, do you want to see what she can do? Where do you want to go, I can take you anywhere, everywhere! What do you want to see, the pyramids being built? The dawn of time? The Boston Tea Party? The Victorians? We could meet Oscar Wilde! Well, you could meet him, I've met him before, great guy, even more charming that you would think him to be. I know, impossible. So, where do you want to go? Or if not somewhere in time, somewhere in space, Midnight maybe? It's got beautiful views. Or perhaps raxacoricofallapatorius? Bit of a mouthful I know, but it's a trip you wouldn't forget!'

'Whoa, slow down there, sweetheart. Anywhere? And you've met Oscar Wilde? I love that man, such an incredible writer. And excellent dress sense.'

'Yes. Anywhere. I'm so excited to share this with you; it's been so long… Not that I regret anything, staying in London with you. But I'm a traveller, and I've missed it. I can't wait to show you the universe, and there is no one I'd rather do it with.'

'You do flatter me so. Surprise me, you've seen it all, take me somewhere wonderful.'

'As you wish…'

And with that, a screeching alarm sound filled the air, and we were off.


	9. Chapter 9

I peeled myself off the floor and stood up slowly, checking my body all over for broken bones or other injury. Fortunately, I found nothing. I heard moaning to my left and turned to see Arthur lying flat out on the ground, face down.

'Are you okay?'

Incoherent mumbling came as a response, as Arthur made an attempt to get up, slowly removing himself from the floor as I had.

'She's not normally that rough. I don't know what happened. Must be out of practise…'

'Yeah, I must say, I've had more comfortable rides. Are you okay anyway? We both got thrown around a fair bit.'

'Yes, fine, it's not the first time… Anyway, if I've got this right, and I sometimes do, we should be on the picturesque planet of Apalapucia. You'll love it, I promise. Beautiful pinkish- purple sky… Hang on, this can't be right…'

We stepped outside onto what looked like something akin to the Yorkshire moors, or somewhere in Norfolk. Flat, green, sparse. Grey skies overhead, beautiful new planet I was sure it was not.

'Arthur, where are we?'

'I'm not sure… Looks like England though. Not modern day, medieval maybe? We haven't moved far from where we were, just… back a bit. In time. The lack of a discernible London with buildings and other people puts us quite far back. I would hazard a guess at five hundred AD maybe? Six hundred? Not far from that.'

'Wow. We're in the past. We're in the fricking past! We are fifteen hundred years from home! Wow.'

I sat down heavily on the ground beneath me, due more to my legs giving away than a coordinated attempt to sit on the floor. Arthur sat beside me and I rested my head on his shoulder.

'This is big. If I told anyone, they wouldn't believe it.'

'Nope. Anyway, by the looks of it, we're nearing the night so we better find shelter on some sort.'

'Couldn't we sleep in the T.A.R.D.I.S?'

'And where would the fun be in that?'

'Fair point, in that case, onwards.'

I jumped up and started to walk, Arthur soon joining me by my side. Without stopping, he turned his head to smile at me, I responded with one of my own.

'Onwards it is then.'

After what felt like hours of walking, and it probably was close to four hours, we a sign of other life in the distance. Closest to us were a few outlying houses, single story, straw roofs, far apart from one another, but they became more compacted the further away they were from us, until eventually, on top of a small hill stood a large, grey castle.

'A castle. Wow. This is insane. We are in medieval England, where people live in castles, and little thatched houses, and ride horses, and fires, and meat, and knights, and kings, and wow.'

'People ride horses in the twenty first century. And fire and meat? Also still 'in' things.'

'Yes, but these are people from the sixth century and they're using them. Very different.'

'I suppose…'

We reached the city about half an hour after we first saw it. It was amazing. I couldn't keep my head still, eyes darting around to take the whole place in. Everything was wonderful to me with its sixth century glaze. Mundane things, like a weekday market, ordinary people, all managed to drag my attention to themselves. It was incredible. As I was busy gazing at a woman collecting water from a communal well (a well! Collecting water, from a well!), I managed to walk straight into a skinny dark haired boy with dark hair and protruding ears.

'Oh, god, sorry! I wasn't watching where I was going. I didn't hurt you did I?'

The boy, or rather man, who I would guess to be about twenty two, twenty three, just smiled at me an easing smile that reached his very pale blue eyes.

'I'm fine, are you okay? And I know how you feel, I'm from a small village myself, the city was a bit of a shock to me my first day here.'

I returned his smile, and the boy's gaze shifted to Arthur who was stood beside me.

'I'm Merlin by the way, and I have to ask, what the hell are you two wearing? You, miss, aren't you cold being so… naked?'

I looked down at my fairly modest knee length skirt and skin tight three quarter length sleeve top. I'd worn more revealing things in my time, for instance, corset, stockings, pants and a top hat for one, at a showing of the Rocky Horror Show, but I suppose compared to the long dresses of the local women, I was a little underdressed.

'I… Um…'

'We're from a land far from here. We've been travelling for months now, from our warmer land of, erm..'

'Londonia. The city of Camdenopolis. Small place.'

'Yes. Yes! We've come to, erm, here for better prospects. Poor place is Londonia.'

'Well, Camelot is the place to come if you want a better life for yourself. So are you two married or…?'

'What? No, but we are together, we lived together back at home I mean?'

'You lived together when you aren't married?' The look of shock on his face made me aware of the faux pas I had inadvertently made. This was an earlier, less progressive time, where one does not simply live with and share a bed with those they aren't married too. Oops.

'When she says 'together' she means we travel together. We're siblings. And lived at home with our mother back in Londonia.'

I gave Arthur a questioning look, but this explanation seemed to placate Merlin. Though the idea of us being siblings would stop suspicion in the eyes of the locals, I wasn't too keen on having to act completely platonic around Arthur. This lie now put any sort of romantic activity off the cards for the remainder of our stay in Camelot.

'Oh! I can see it now, you two do look quite similar, you have the same eyes.' I looked at Arthur to test this theory. No, I couldn't see it. His short blond hair, tanned skin and bright blue eyes held no resemblance to my long dark hair, porcelain skin and pale green eyes. I raised my eyebrows at him and he smiled back. Best not to argue with Merlin, if he was finding it easy to believe that we were siblings, then I wasn't going to jeopardise it.

'So do you two have anywhere to stay? I live with my uncle Gaius in the castle, he's the court physician and I'm a man servant to the knights. It's small quarters, but if you wanted to stay you would be welcome, we could make room…'

He didn't take his eyes off from Arthur while he was saying this. He had directed most of this conversation towards Arthur throughout the whole exchange. I put it down to the more dominant patriarchal society that Britain would have been under back in the sixth century. Not that much has since improved. Still, I was aware that female oppression would be worse than my twenty first century mind was used to, and didn't say anything to indicate on the contrary, after all, we couldn't bring to much attention to ourselves. This was still an era of witch burning; Christ knows what they'd do to a time traveller and an alien.

'That would be really great, thank you.'

Merlin's eyes lit up at Arthur's agreement to his suggestion.

'Right, well, great, come on I'll show you where it is then.'

We walked through the city for about twenty minutes before reaching the castle walls. Everything I had seen on the short walk had excited me. It was all so new, so quaint, and so very different. It was literally like walking into the pages of a history book. The houses, the people. Amazing.

Merlin's quarters were small but comfortable, located within the castle walls. It consisted of one large living area with a small kitchen and dining like space, and one bedroom towards the back.

'This is nice. This is very nice.'

'You two can take my room if you'd like. It's through the back there. I don't mind sleeping on the table.'

'That's very kind of you, thanks.' Arthur smiled at Merlin. Merlin smiled back almost shyly and looked down at the floor.

'Well, you two must be tired after travelling, I'll leave you too sleep for a bit.'

I hadn't been aware of how exhausted I was until that point. The whole day had been an overwhelming experience liked I'd never felt before. I turned round to look at Arthur and caught him mid yawn. Apparently he was suffering too. Without talking, he grabbed my hand and led me towards the bedroom, a move that I wasn't in any state dispute. As amazing as this land all was, this time, it would still be there in a few hours time, and the next day even. Yes, sleep was what we needed now.

'Well, sleep well you two. I'll go find Gaius and tell him you're staying with us, he shouldn't mind. Bye.'

'Bye, and thank you again, this is very much appreciated.'

'No worries, I'll see you both later.'

Arthur collapsed heavily on to the bed, pulling me on top of him. I giggled and rolled off him to the side.

'I can't believe this is really happening. We're in the past! The bloody medieval times! You're amazing, have I ever told you that?'

'Nowhere near often enough. Anyway, shut up now, I need some sleep.'

I pushed him playfully but did as I was told, and in a less than a minute, we were both sound asleep.


	10. Chapter 10

'Merlin! Merlin! Where the hell are you, Merlin!'

'What? What's happening? Who's Merlin? Arthur?' I blinked a few times to clear my eyes and yawned and stretched. Someone was shouting and it had woken me. I'd been in the middle of a deep sleep, and was still in the post sleep stage of confusion. Arthur was still snoring next to me on the bed. I looked around the strange room and tried to recall why and where we were. So it hadn't been a dream, we were in medieval era Britain. Wow.

The bedroom door was thrown open.

'Merlin! Oh, hello, and who, may I ask, are you?' The man was Irish, and really quite attractive. He had longish dark hair and a short beard on his pale face.

'I, erm, I-'

'Who are you? Why are you here and where's Merlin?' Arthur, I hadn't realised, had woken up beside me.

'I'm Sir Gwaine, knight of Camelot, pleased to meet your acquaintance.' With that, he kissed my hand and winked at me. A sharp giggle escaped my lips, but I quickly stopped myself.

'What do you want with Merlin?'

'He's man servant to the knights. I came to ask him to polish my armour, by clearly he is elsewhere. My guess would be that he is at the tavern. Or at least that's where I'd be if I had any time off.' He grinned at me after saying this, and gave me another wink. I smiled back.

'He said that he was going to find Gaius.'

'Ah, I see. Anyway, I'll be going now, but I hope to see you two later.' He left then, running out the door.

'He seemed nice.'

'Don't think I didn't see him wink at you. Twice. And he kissed your hand. We could have been married for all he knew. He didn't look at me, did you notice, just started at you.'

'Jealous are we?' I smirked at him, but he didn't look amused.

'I didn't take you back in time so you could be seduced by a pretty boy Irish knight.'

'He was quite pretty wasn't he?' I started wistfully at the door and sighed. Mostly it was for affect, but I had wanted to talk more to the handsome knight. Out of platonic interest only, of course.

'Stop it.'

I just laughed at him, amused by the disgruntled expression on his face.

'Don't worry, you're the only man for me. My handsome, clever time lord.'

'Good. I should think so too. Now, care to come and explore Camelot with me darling?'

'Why certainly sir, you lead on.'


End file.
